Grasshopper is an experimental technology-demonstrator, suborbital reusable launch vehicle (RLV), a vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) rocket,[1] built to support development and test of a subset of the technologies required for the SpaceX reusable rocket launching system.[2] Grasshopper was announced in 2011[3] and began low-altitude, low-velocity hover/landing testing in 2012. The initial Grasshopper test vehicle—the 32 metres (106 ft)-tall Grasshopper v1.0—made eight successful test flights in 2012 and 2013 before being retired. A second Grasshopper test vehicle—the larger and more capable Grasshoper v1.1—is currently being built and will be used for testing at higher altitudes and supersonic speeds.